10 Fall Beers You'll Fall in Love With

What would autumn be without its full flavored beer, except an unfair trade-off for summer’s constant sunshine and half-naked women? With many of these great beers brewed since spring and awaiting our taste buds in the fall, some more easily accessible than others, it’s hard to choose just one, or even five, so here’s 10 seasonal beers you’ll fall in love with. And yes, we expect you to try them all.

Magic Hat Hex

Since Pabst Blue Ribbon (somehow) didn’t quite make the list, we’ll give you the best choice for number one we can find. Anybody who’s had Magic Hat’s year round beers knows it’s more than just a quality brew, not always easy to find, but an obvious decision if you happen to be in the right place.

Hex is the brewery’s fall item, a smoky amber German “Ourtoberfest” brew with a hint of toffee and caramel that’s on the shelves just two short months each year. It has the mature and rich taste that makes you feel manly when you drink it and a bit defenseless without it.

Alcohol Content: 5.4%

Availability: Through October

What would autumn be without its full flavored beer, except an unfair trade-off for summer’s constant sunshine and half-naked women? With many of these great beers brewed since spring and awaiting our taste buds in the fall, some more easily accessible than others, it’s hard to choose just one, or even five, so here’s 10 seasonal beers you’ll fall in love with. And yes, we expect you to try them all.

Magic Hat Hex

Since Pabst Blue Ribbon (somehow) didn’t quite make the list, we’ll give you the best choice for number one we can find. Anybody who’s had Magic Hat’s year round beers knows it’s more than just a quality brew, not always easy to find, but an obvious decision if you happen to be in the right place.

Hex is the brewery’s fall item, a smoky amber German “Ourtoberfest” brew with a hint of toffee and caramel that’s on the shelves just two short months each year. It has the mature and rich taste that makes you feel manly when you drink it and a bit defenseless without it.

Alcohol Content: 5.4%

Availability: Through October

Speed-Light via Flickr

Kona Brewing Co. Pipeline Porter

Home brewed on Hawaii’s Big Island, Kona, the Pipeline Porter is just one of several uniquely distinctive island beers, making it appearance right after of their summer-inspired Wailua Wheat Ale.

The porter combines premium barley and hops with homegrown Kona coffee taste for a rich, bold flavor. It’s as popular at the craft beer bars as it is at home with a steamy bowl of beef stew, which is a great place to be when it puts the first hair on your chest.

Alcohol Content: 5.3%

Availability: Fall/Winter

Kona Brewing Co. Pipeline Porter

Home brewed on Hawaii’s Big Island, Kona, the Pipeline Porter is just one of several uniquely distinctive island beers, making it appearance right after of their summer-inspired Wailua Wheat Ale.

The porter combines premium barley and hops with homegrown Kona coffee taste for a rich, bold flavor. It’s as popular at the craft beer bars as it is at home with a steamy bowl of beef stew, which is a great place to be when it puts the first hair on your chest.

Alcohol Content: 5.3%

Availability: Fall/Winter

cma3 via Flickr

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale

If alcoholics and pumpkin pie connoisseurs got together and dreamt up a clever way to make deliciously intoxicating pumpkin flavored ale, they’d be lucky to come close to Blue Moon’s seasonal Harvest Pumpkin Ale.

Mixed with their twist of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg, the amber ale tips the scale of their sweet summer Belgium white with its light bitterness, making it just right for the fall season. The only substitute would be spiked cider, but that’s a lot of work.

Alcohol Content: 5.7%

Availability: Through late November (then it’s on to Winter Abbey)

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale

If alcoholics and pumpkin pie connoisseurs got together and dreamt up a clever way to make deliciously intoxicating pumpkin flavored ale, they’d be lucky to come close to Blue Moon’s seasonal Harvest Pumpkin Ale.

Mixed with their twist of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg, the amber ale tips the scale of their sweet summer Belgium white with its light bitterness, making it just right for the fall season. The only substitute would be spiked cider, but that’s a lot of work.

Alcohol Content: 5.7%

Availability: Through late November (then it’s on to Winter Abbey)

Matt Pettengill via Flickr

Gordon Biersch FestBier

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of a trip to one of Gordon Biersch’s many breweries, you’d know that aside from their amazing food menu, they brew up a pretty competitive line of beers, especially their fall slugger, FestBier.

FestBier offers a winning duo of dark-roasted and pilsner malt with a lighter, hoppy taste to send your taste buds into orbit around that spoiled mouth of yours (if you have the pleasure of trying FestBier, obviously).

Alcohol Content: 5.6%

Availability: Through October

Gordon Biersch FestBier

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of a trip to one of Gordon Biersch’s many breweries, you’d know that aside from their amazing food menu, they brew up a pretty competitive line of beers, especially their fall slugger, FestBier.

FestBier offers a winning duo of dark-roasted and pilsner malt with a lighter, hoppy taste to send your taste buds into orbit around that spoiled mouth of yours (if you have the pleasure of trying FestBier, obviously).

Alcohol Content: 5.6%

Availability: Through October

billsoPHOTO via Flickr

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

Sierra Nevada is a brewing company dedicated to bringing the best beer to the table every month of the year, and their fall classic, Tumbler, is no slouch.

The lightly chocolaty, smoky brown ale is noted for its smoothness and peak malt perfection. Although you can get a good Sierra Nevada any old time of the year, we recommend you give this one a try and see if you can keep a tear from coming to your eyes when you see how beautiful it is.

Alcohol Content: 5.5%

Availability: Through the end of fall

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

Sierra Nevada is a brewing company dedicated to bringing the best beer to the table every month of the year, and their fall classic, Tumbler, is no slouch.

The lightly chocolaty, smoky brown ale is noted for its smoothness and peak malt perfection. Although you can get a good Sierra Nevada any old time of the year, we recommend you give this one a try and see if you can keep a tear from coming to your eyes when you see how beautiful it is.

Alcohol Content: 5.5%

Availability: Through the end of fall

chrishemmerly via Flickr

Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale

The folks at Dogfish Head know how to party, or at least they know how much people like to party, because they make their beer just as good as it is strong. If you’ve ever sucked down one of their 90-minute stone IPAs, you’d know you owed your good time and hangover to these guys.

The Punkin’ Ale isn’t a departure from that quality, and with a little pumpkin and organic brown sugar spices, it’s a slightly stronger fall beer than the other girls out there. Not only should you not operate heavy machinery, but you shouldn’t even look at it when it comes to this party.

Alcohol Content: 7.0%

Availability: Through Thanksgiving

Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale

The folks at Dogfish Head know how to party, or at least they know how much people like to party, because they make their beer just as good as it is strong. If you’ve ever sucked down one of their 90-minute stone IPAs, you’d know you owed your good time and hangover to these guys.

The Punkin’ Ale isn’t a departure from that quality, and with a little pumpkin and organic brown sugar spices, it’s a slightly stronger fall beer than the other girls out there. Not only should you not operate heavy machinery, but you shouldn’t even look at it when it comes to this party.

Alcohol Content: 7.0%

Availability: Through Thanksgiving

Scott Beale via Flickr

Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier

Some may name Paulaner’s fall brew the official beer of Oktoberfest, perhaps because people in Munich are practically breastfed this stuff for nourishment. See if you agree when you taste the bier yourself, but we recommend you use a glass instead of getting yourself detained for sexual assault.

Don’t be fooled by its light colored appearance, as this tasty cake is stronger than most good lagers out there. It’s like most Germans: tall, strong and gives you a good sense of humor.

Alcohol Content: 6.0%

Availability: Through October

Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier

Some may name Paulaner’s fall brew the official beer of Oktoberfest, perhaps because people in Munich are practically breastfed this stuff for nourishment. See if you agree when you taste the bier yourself, but we recommend you use a glass instead of getting yourself detained for sexual assault.

Don’t be fooled by its light colored appearance, as this tasty cake is stronger than most good lagers out there. It’s like most Germans: tall, strong and gives you a good sense of humor.

Alcohol Content: 6.0%

Availability: Through October

Bernt Rostad

New Belgium Red Hoptober

Fat Tire lovers, beware. There’s a newborn New Belgium beer in town that might temporary steal your heart. New Belgium makes sure to get down with its traveling Tour de Fat, featuring an almost renaissance fair-esque circus/carnival equipped with unicycles, eccentric folks, good food and of course, trucks full of New Belgium beers.

The Red Hoptober is their fall offering that sets right up there with Fat Tire, bringing a fresh tropical taste up against an appropriately hoppy bitter taste to make a smooth blend in its first year as a New Belgium beer in 2012. Give it a go!

Alcohol Content: 6.0%

Availability: Through October

New Belgium Red Hoptober

Fat Tire lovers, beware. There’s a newborn New Belgium beer in town that might temporary steal your heart. New Belgium makes sure to get down with its traveling Tour de Fat, featuring an almost renaissance fair-esque circus/carnival equipped with unicycles, eccentric folks, good food and of course, trucks full of New Belgium beers.

The Red Hoptober is their fall offering that sets right up there with Fat Tire, bringing a fresh tropical taste up against an appropriately hoppy bitter taste to make a smooth blend in its first year as a New Belgium beer in 2012. Give it a go!

Alcohol Content: 6.0%

Availability: Through October

Kevin Reese via Flickr

Sam Adams Octoberfest

Going on 25 years of October goodness, Sam Adams needs zero introductions as it continues to deliver a safe bet on a top fall brew.

The red amber ale offers everything a sloppy Oktoberfest drinker could want in a fall beer: a dash of sweetness, caramel and most importantly, smoothness. It probably doesn’t hurt that 12 of these babies will get you howling at any harvest moon.

Alcohol Content: 5.3%

Availability: Through Thanksgiving

Sam Adams Octoberfest

Going on 25 years of October goodness, Sam Adams needs zero introductions as it continues to deliver a safe bet on a top fall brew.

The red amber ale offers everything a sloppy Oktoberfest drinker could want in a fall beer: a dash of sweetness, caramel and most importantly, smoothness. It probably doesn’t hurt that 12 of these babies will get you howling at any harvest moon.

Alcohol Content: 5.3%

Availability: Through Thanksgiving

Another Pint PleaseÃ¢ÂÂ¦ via Flickr

Full Sail Wassail

The mahogany Oregon beer has sailed into our liquor stores for a micro brew flavored orgy that will keep you going to the fridge. The dark colored, full body beer combines a caramel and chocolaty flavor with its hoppy pungency to give its taster layer upon layer of zesty autumn beer goodness. It’s like getting to the center of the Tootsie Pop over and over with each lick.

Alcohol Content: 7.0%

Availability: September through December

Full Sail Wassail

The mahogany Oregon beer has sailed into our liquor stores for a micro brew flavored orgy that will keep you going to the fridge. The dark colored, full body beer combines a caramel and chocolaty flavor with its hoppy pungency to give its taster layer upon layer of zesty autumn beer goodness. It’s like getting to the center of the Tootsie Pop over and over with each lick.